Tottenham ‘have hours to move for Xavi Simons’ as talks held
Tottenham’s situation surrounding Morgan Gibbs-White appears to have halted their transfer dealings.
Spurs showed uncharacteristic intent when they triggered Gibbs-White’s £60million release clause hours before finalising a deal for Mohammed Kudus just over a week ago.
It looked like the start of a memorable summer, but the move was stopped in its tracks after Nottingham Forest blocked the deal for their star midfielder.
Tottenham are now seemingly waiting for the situation to be resolved, and as a result, could miss out on Xavi Simons following the latest update.
Chelsea in talks with Simons’ camp
Simons has been linked with Tottenham after it emerged that the versatile forward was keen to leave RB Leipzig this summer.
The 22-year-old has grown disgruntled in Germany and wants to move to the Premier League, opening the door for Tottenham to explore a deal for the Netherlands international.
| Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| RB Leipzig | 76 | 21 | 23 |
| PSV Eindhoven | 48 | 22 | 11 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 11 | – | 1 |
However, Chelsea are in pole position to sign Simons after continuing their talks with his camp on Monday (21 July), as reported by Florian Plettenberg.
The Blues are working on reaching a verbal agreement with the player, while his parent club are willing to listen to offers above £60million.
This development has put Tottenham on the back foot, giving them just hours to make a concrete move for Simons before a deal is potentially finalised with their London rivals.
The ongoing saga with Gibbs-White further complicates an approach, as Thomas Frank is unlikely to bring in two players to compete for the attacking midfield role.
Defensive midfield is more of a priority for Spurs
While Simons’ quality as a creative outlet and a consistent goalscorer would be a welcome addition to Frank’s attacking options, Tottenham are already well stocked in that department.
The more pressing issue is signing a recognised number six who can both shield the defence and reliably progress the ball from the back into the forwards.
Spurs’ current crop of players are too hit and miss, and it would put too much pressure on Archie Gray to expect him to instantly solve the issue single-handedly.
As such, focusing on a move for Joao Palhinha would make a lot of sense as the Bayern Munich midfielder would offer an instant upgrade on both Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur in that position.
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